Friday, 30 December 2016

The Beatles Clappers

This post is about the clappers used on Beatles and ex-Beatles movies and music videos or interviews and VTR clocks used during their TV broadcast.

This is a project that took me a while before deciding to realized it and, as soon as I published it I found a lot of new material. Because I'm not planning to make an update any time soon I will share the clips not included in the main video one by one.
This is the main video.

Let's start with this photo of director Richard Lenster on the set of Help! Funny how he's using the clapper as a sort of pillow.

Somehow I missed this photo while editing the main video as this screenshot is taken from one of the version of Hello Goodbye I used.

And another frameshot from video I am the walrus outtakes.

The next is a clip from the Anthology.

And this other one is from the filming of "Free as a Bird".

Here also some more clappers from Strawberry Fields Forever

This one is taken from the videoclips of Buck Owens and Ringo Star

Ringo Starr again from the videoclip "Hey Baby" (1976)

George Harrison & Bob Dylan in concert.

The next clip is 5 minutes long, it is the sound-check of a concert in Sidney by Wings. it's all clappers.

There is also an audio clip of the take #27 of Let it Be. While the one on the main video is the take #23 from Savile Row, this one is from the Twickenham Session. You can hear the full track here: https://vid.me/h2dN

A nice photo Barbara Bach during the filming of Caveman in 1981, where just like George met and fell in love with Patty Boyd while filming A Hard Day's Night, Ringo met Barbara in the same way.

And to end this blog, here's a couple of VTR clocks.
In case if you wondering what VTR Clocks are used for, here's simple explication:
in order to allow a Microcomputer to place a countdown and indent clock on video productions the programme allows the user to type in the production details on the slate, and also to present some identification text in the space below the clock. The countdown may be started at any ten-second point, and the take number is incremented automatically. The screen can be arranged to fade to black automatically at the three-second point. http://radios-tv.co.uk/Pembers/Software/VTR-Clock/index.html